


Curiosity killed the padawan (but satisfaction brought him back)

by skatzaa



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Meditation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23797009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skatzaa/pseuds/skatzaa
Summary: Depa and Caleb meditate together.Set between the time Depa takes Caleb as her padawan and when they're deployed.
Relationships: Depa Billaba & Kanan Jarrus
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37
Collections: Jedi-Friendly, May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Fanworks Exchange 2020





	Curiosity killed the padawan (but satisfaction brought him back)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Independence1776](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Independence1776/gifts).



> Independence1776, I hope you enjoy! I loved the Kanan comics and the glimpses we got of Depa, and I was so happy to be able to write a fic about them!

“Master?”

In the three and a half days that Caleb Dume had been her padawan, Depa had become very familiar with that specific intonation when it was applied to the title _Master._ Her new padawan was _very_ curious and _very_ comfortable with expressing it.

Depa glanced at Caleb out of the corner of her eye. They were meant to be meditating in one of the smaller chambers reserved for new master-padawan pairs, but his expression spoke of anything but serene contemplation. As she watched, his face scrunched up in what might have been concentration, or just as easily frustration. She preferred side-by-side meditation because, as a padawan, it had made her feel less like she was being observed, but it did make it more difficult to gauge Caleb’s feelings. She said, as she had every time he’d asked that in the past three and a half days, “Yes, my padawan?”

“Are you actually meditating, or is this a test for me?”

She eyed him again, a little surprised despite herself. On top of curious, Caleb had quickly proven himself to be incredibly observant. He had a tendency to file information away and only bring it up when it suited him—that is, if his curiosity didn’t get the better of him first.

The curiosity usually won out, or so it seemed from her perspective.

“Why do you ask?” she countered, more interested in his reasoning than his answer.

His face shifted—lips pressed tightly together, eyes squeezed shut—and she felt a flare of nervous amusement from him: he was trying not to laugh.

Depa’s own amusement sparked to life, but she let it settle quietly in the back of her mind.

“It’s just,” Caleb said, reaching up to scratch the side of his nose; a nervous tic. “Well, I feel like it’s a test, because I’m pretty sure you’re not actually meditating.”

Another spark of amusement, but this time she carefully shielded so he wouldn’t feel it. Let him work this out on his own, without any help from her.

“What makes you say that?”

Caleb _hmphed,_ but gave in. “When people meditate, their minds tend to get… not _floaty,_ but quieter? And I was meditating, but your mind still felt bright and like it normally does. So I figured it had to be a test.”

Surprise jolted through her. So her padawan was strongly connected to the Living Force and to others, in the way she had always struggled to be. He was young to have such a strong talent already, but then again, he was young to pass the Initiate Trials. She supposed it was to be expected. Depa asked one final question, “Why would I be testing you?”

Caleb opened his eyes at last, and glared playfully at her. 

“I don’t know,” he said crossly, but she could feel how he was trying to hide his happiness. _“You’re_ the Master, not me.”

Depa shifted so she could face him, and Caleb followed suit. She met his eyes, doing her best to keep a serious expression on his face.

“You’ve learned a very valuable Jedi lesson today, padawan mine,” she said.

He eyed her suspiciously. “You’re just making fun of me.”

Depa’s hand flew to her chest, pretending to be wounded. “I would _never!”_ His stink eye increased dramatically, and she finally cracked, letting her smile show. “But I did want to see how patient you could be.”

Caleb pouted and crossed his arms across his chest. Oh but he was so _young,_ almost three years younger than she had been when Mace had chosen her. And she was meant to guide him through the trials and tribulations of being a padawan? Force help her.

“If it makes you feel better,” she said, leaning closer, voice lowered conspiratorially, “you lasted a lot longer than I did, when Master Windu pulled the same thing with me.”

Caleb’s eyebrows drew together, and she was sure he was struggling with the idea of the stern Master of the Order that he knew playing a practical joke on his padawan.

Depa reached out, and waited for him to place one small hand in hers. She covered it with her second hand, and gave him a reassuring smile. 

“I am proud of you for keeping your concentration for so long,” she told him. “But if there’s anything that I would prefer you to learn from this, it is that sometimes, even a Jedi Master will try to give you the runaround, but if you listen to your intuition and the Force, it won’t lead you astray.”

Not the lesson that Mace had been trying to teach her, but she can already see that Caleb would need a different path, and different lessons to guide him along that path.

He beamed up at her. “Soooo, what you’re saying is that, when you assign me meditation, I can ignore it if the Force tells me it’s okay?”

Depa laughed, and released his hand to ruffle his hair. “Not so fast, little one. But if the Force tells you that, you can _always_ talk to me, and we can discuss what is behind that feeling.”

Different paths and lessons, indeed. This would be a different path, and a whole slew of lessons, for her as well, and she found that she was looking forward to it. 


End file.
